South Dakota Clean Energy Jobs: 11,282 Workers (2024)
South Dakota supports 11,282 clean-energy workers across 8 sectors tracked by the USEER.
1. Employment Landscape — by sector
| Sector | Jobs (2024) | National rank |
|---|---|---|
| Energy Efficiency | 7,898 | #45 |
| Wind | 1,831 | #18 |
| Solar | 743 | #46 |
| Storage & Grid | 340 | #43 |
| Electric Vehicles | 327 | #40 |
| Clean Fuels | 79 | #43 |
| Hydropower | 65 | #48 |
3. Hiring Difficulty & Industry Mix
Employer-reported hiring difficulty and the NAICS industry split for clean-energy jobs in South Dakota.
3.1 Hiring difficulty breakdown
Did not hire
49.1%
Somewhat difficult hiring
29.0%
Very difficult hiring
14.7%
Not at all difficult hiring
7.2%
3.2 Jobs by NAICS industry group
| Industry (NAICS group) | Jobs (2024) |
|---|---|
| Construction | 9,080 |
| Manufacturing | 5,860 |
| Trade | 5,444 |
| Other Services | 3,922 |
| Utilities | 2,008 |
| Professional Services | 1,638 |
| Pipeline Transport & Commodity Flows | 955 |
| Agriculture and Forestry | 622 |
| Mining and Extraction | 65 |
4. Full USEER Metrics for South Dakota
Every line-item reported in the public 2025 USEER workbook for South Dakota: fuels, electricity generation, transmission/distribution/storage, efficiency, vehicles, and NAICS industry groups.
Fuels
| Sub-category | Jobs (2024) |
|---|---|
| Fuels total | 3,360 |
| Corn ethanol | 1,652 |
| Oil (petroleum and other fossil fuels) | 1,214 |
| Other fuels | 128 |
| Other ethanol and non-woody biomass | 115 |
| Natural gas fuels | 84 |
| Woody biomass | 80 |
| Other biofuels | 79 |
| Nuclear fuels | 5 |
| Coal fuels | 3 |
Electric Power Generation
| Sub-category | Jobs (2024) |
|---|---|
| Electric power generation total | 3,851 |
| Wind | 1,831 |
| Solar | 743 |
| Other electricity | 632 |
| Natural gas electricity | 244 |
| Bioenergy/Combined heat and power | 178 |
| Coal electricity | 84 |
| Traditional hydropower | 65 |
| Low impact hydropower, marine, and hydrokinetics | 32 |
| Oil and other fossil fuel electricity | 21 |
| Geothermal electricity | 20 |
| Nuclear electricity | 0 |
Transmission, Distribution & Storage
| Sub-category | Jobs (2024) |
|---|---|
| Transmission, distribution, and storage total | 4,631 |
| Traditional transmission and distribution | 3,523 |
| Other (including commodity flows) | 565 |
| Storage | 340 |
| Other grid modernization | 78 |
| Smart grid | 63 |
| Micro grid | 61 |
Energy Efficiency
| Sub-category | Jobs (2024) |
|---|---|
| Energy efficiency total | 7,898 |
| Traditional HVAC with an efficiency component | 2,194 |
| High efficiency HVAC and renewable heating and cooling | 2,109 |
| Other | 1,639 |
| Certified and efficient lighting | 1,152 |
| Advanced materials | 803 |
Motor Vehicles
| Sub-category | Jobs (2024) |
|---|---|
| Motor vehicle total | 9,855 |
| Gasoline and diesel vehicles | 7,318 |
| Other vehicles | 807 |
| Motor vehicle commodity flows | 562 |
| Hybrid electric vehicles | 503 |
| Battery electric vehicles | 327 |
| Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles | 230 |
| Hydrogen/fuel cell vehicles | 57 |
| Natural gas vehicles | 51 |
By NAICS Industry
| Sub-category | Jobs (2024) |
|---|---|
| Construction | 9,080 |
| Manufacturing | 5,860 |
| Trade | 5,444 |
| Other Services | 3,922 |
| Utilities | 2,008 |
| Professional Services | 1,638 |
| Pipeline Transport & Commodity Flows | 955 |
| Agriculture and Forestry | 622 |
| Mining and Extraction | 65 |